The Price for Health

Good Monday morning to you all! I am praying that you have had a great weekend, and will have an even greater week 🙂 This mornings post was suppose to be all about weekly meal prep, but I just need a moment……..

I would like to just rant a little bit this morning if you can bear with me. Getting myself back on track is top priority for me, which means I spent some time this weekend grocery shopping and prepping for the week ahead. So with my handy-dandy list in hand I hit the stores. I will tell you that I prefer to do my shopping at Trader Joe’s/Fresh Market so I can get organic produce, but both stores are a 30 minute drive from me in opposite directions. This weekend was super packed with events so I had to make do with our local Wal-Mart & our local produce market. Which by the way I shop from very often because it is locally grown!

So this is what my shopping trip looked like. I spent a total of 130$ on this! I was appalled at how much it cost me to feed my family healthier foods (please excuse the pancake syrup & fruity pebbles, you can only take so much from children at one time) compared to what we could spend to eat from a box. Just to give an example a box/frozen meal would cost me about two bucks……I pay at least three buckaroos for just one vegetable! It makes me so sad when I look at this picture. This is why so many of us are sick and/or have weight problems. This pic doesn’t really contain meats that I am blessed to already have available. It is strictly produce and staple items that we buy every week. It is so much cheaper to eat crappy food, and many Americans can’t afford to pay this much for so little 😦

side note: yes I have always been aware that it is more expensive to eat healthy, but I have never really paid attention to it per say because I was raised on fresh foods so I have always had them. Now that I am trying to budget my groceries more to incorporate organic meats/produce in our diet, I realize just how much it cost. Most people do not have access to a family garden 😦

So today I am urging you to encourage people to buy produce. Even if they can’t buy organic, regular produce is still better than none at all! Oh and if you have access to fresh produce/meats/eggs via gardens and such…….I encourage you to share with someone who doesn’t have access to one. I always share fresh produce/eggs that I get from my parents with my in laws & friends. It may only be enough for one meal, but at least it is one meal that it a little healthier for them!

I also encourage you to buy frozen veggies if you can’t afford the fresh produce. They are priced a little cheaper, especially if you buy your stores brand. Most frozen veggies are frozen at the peak of ripeness so they are pretty tasty when steamed and a little seasoning sprinkled on top.

** Thanks for letting me rant a little this morning! I will not continue with a super long post, and will save my meal prep post for tomorrow. I was just really saddened by this reality and needed to get it off of my chest. If you have advice or tips about this situation I would love for you to leave a comment. You never know, your tip could be passed on by me to a friend that could really use it!**

1. do you have to shop on a budget?

2. what tips do you have for saving money on healthy foods?

3. what item do you shell out big bucks for that you just can’t go without? For me it is almond butter and chia seeds!